The Rancher's Bargain - Joanne Rock

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what if Teddy had overstayed his welcome in the child care facility? James hadn’t been able to keep a nanny for more than two weeks with his nephew’s swings from shy and withdrawn to uncontrollable bouts of temper. James had no plan B if the TCC child care couldn’t take the toddler for at least part of the time. The boy’s only grandparents lived five hours away—too far for babysitting help.

      “Lydia, you needn’t worry about the donation,” he told his guest, the stress at the base of his spine ratcheting higher up his back. As compelling as he found his unexpected guest, he needed to end this meeting so he could see what was going on with the boy. “I’ve already taken care of the matter with the charity, and I’ll speak to your sister about it when she returns to Royal.”

      He remained standing, hoping his response would satisfy Lydia and send her on her way. Bad enough he’d felt an immediate attraction to the woman. But he was too strapped emotionally and mentally this week to figure out a creative solution to help her sister work off a debt that James had already paid.

      “Taken care of?” Lydia sounded wary. “What does that mean?”

      Tension throbbed in his temples. He would have never guessed that concerns about one tiny kid could consume a person day and night. But that’s exactly where he found himself right now, worrying about the boy around the clock, certain that his lack of consistent care was going to screw up the child Parker had been so proud of.

      “I paid off the bid myself,” James clarified while he watched the child care worker edge around the administrative assistant and bustle toward his office door.

      Damn it.

      “You can’t go in there,” the front desk secretary called after her, while James waited, tension vibrating through him.

      From behind him, Lydia Walker’s gasp was followed by the whispered words, “One hundred thousand dollars?”

      Damn it again.

      Pivoting toward Lydia, he already regretted his haste. But he needed to concentrate on whatever new crisis was developing.

      “That information is confidential, and stays between the two of us. I only shared it so you won’t worry about the bid anymore.”

      Standing, Lydia gaped at him. She shook her head, the warm streaks in her brown hair glinting in the sunlight streaming through the windows behind her. “I’ll worry twice as much now. How can we ever hope to repay you?”

      He didn’t have time to answer before a childish cry filled the room.

      His nephew, little Teddy Harris, came barreling toward him with big crocodile tears running down both cheeks, his wispy baby curls bouncing with each jarring step. The two women stepped out of the boy’s way as he ran straight into James’s leg. Crushing the wool gabardine in damp baby hands, the boy let out a wail that all of Royal must have heard.

      With proof of his inadequacy as a stand-in parent clinging to his calf, James had never felt so powerless. Reaching down, he lifted his nephew in his arms to offer whatever comfort he could, knowing it wasn’t going to be enough. The toddler thrashed in his arms, his back arching, kicking with sock-clad feet.

      James had all he could do to hang on to the squirming kid let alone soothe him.

      Until, miraculously, the child stilled. The two women lingering at the threshold of his office door were both smiling as they watched. James had to crane his neck to see the boy’s expression since Teddy peered at something over his shoulder, tantrum forgotten.

      For a split second, he wondered what on earth that could be. Until he remembered the enticing woman in the room with them.

      He sensed her presence behind him in a hint of feminine fragrance and a soft footfall on the hardwood floor. It was James’s only warning, before her voice whispered, “peekaboo!” in a way that tickled against his left ear.

      Teddy erupted in giggles.

      It was, without question, the best magic trick James had ever witnessed. And he knew immediately that there was a way Ms. Lydia Walker could repay him.

       Two

      Once the child in James’s arms had settled down, the Texas Cattleman’s Club’s handsome president set the boy on his feet while he went to speak in low tones to the two women who hovered near the entrance of his office.

      Lydia did her best not to eavesdrop even though she was wildly curious about the identity of the toddler. The brief bio she’d read of James online hadn’t mentioned a wife or family, and he didn’t wear a wedding ring. Not that it was any of her business. But clearly, the child was his based on the way the toddler had flung chubby arms around James’s leg like he was home base in a game of tag.

      For that matter, they shared the same brown eyes flecked with gold, as well.

      A gentle tug on the sleeve of her sweater made Lydia realize she’d gotten sidetracked during this round of “peekaboo.” She glanced back to the sober little boy in front of her, his damp hand clutching the ribbed cuff of her sweater to help him keep balance. He looked sleepy and out of sorts as he wobbled on unsteady legs, but the game was still entertaining him. Obediently, she covered her face to hide again, remembering how much her youngest brother had loved playing.

      “Thank you,” James said to the woman from the front desk. “I’ll take care of it.”

      Then he turned and walked back toward Lydia.

      She watched him through her fingers as she hid her face from Teddy. Tall and lean, James Harris moved with the grace of an athlete even in jeans and boots. His button-down shirt looked custom fitted, the only giveaway to his position at the club. Without the Stetson he’d been wearing in the photo she’d seen of him online, she could now appreciate the golden color of his eyes. His dark hair was close cropped, the kind of cut that meant regular trips to the barber. Everything about him was neat. Well-groomed. Incredibly good-looking.

      The sight of him was enough to make her throat dry right up in feminine appreciation. She might have forgotten all about the peekaboo game if Teddy hadn’t patted her knee. Belatedly, she slid her hands from her face and surprised the toddler again.

      The boy giggled softly before resting his head on her knee, as though he was too tired to hold himself upright any longer. Poor little guy. She rubbed his back absently while the baby fidgeted with his feet.

      “I think he’ll be down for the count in another minute,” she told James quietly. “He’s an adorable child.”

      “He’s normally a handful,” James admitted, taking the seat across from her. “You’re very good with him.”

      His charming smile made her breath hitch in her chest. James Harris’s photo online hadn’t fully prepared her for how devastatingly sexy he’d be in person, an attraction she had no business feeling for a man who had a family of his own. A man who’d bailed her sister out of a thorny financial mess that could have very well derailed both their careers. How could Lydia ever thank him?

      “As the oldest of eight kids, I had a lot of firsthand experience,” she admitted, accustomed to glossing over the hurtful aspects of feeling more like hired help than her mother’s daughter. “I’ve worked as a nanny ever since and I hope to open my own child care business out of my home this year.” It couldn’t hurt to start spreading the word to people in the community with young families. “Do you have any other children?”

      The question sounded benign enough, right? Not like she was fishing to find out more about whether or not this handsome man was married with a house full of adorable offspring waiting to greet him at the end of the day.

      “No.” A shadowed expression crossed his face. “Teddy is my brother’s son. And up until Teddy’s parents died three months ago, I was a bachelor spending every waking hour running a ranch or performing my duties here. My life has been turned upside down.”

      She

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